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Design Classics: AJ cutlery by Arne Jacobsen

When film director Stanley Kubrick wanted futuristic knives and forks for his space-station operatives in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, there was no need to call the props department. The cutlery had existed since the late 1950s, designed by a plump, bespectacled Danish architect called Arne Jacobsen.

Jacobsen was one of the great designers of the 20th century. Nobody before or since has made eating implements like this. The knives are shaped a little like scalpels; spoons and forks are immensely elongated; soup spoons have offset handles.

Made by Georg Jensen, these stainless-steel hand-sculptures take some getting used to, but for conversational value alone, AJ cutlery is worth the £345 for a 30-piece set.

Available from Georg Jensen stockists such as Skandium, 020 7935 2077, www.skandium.co.u